Once a century, someone with a strong will is born. One chosen to defy what fate dictates. Unfortunately for Carona, this century’s “chosen one” is none other than Princess Mint- future Queen of the World... Looks like destiny really screwed up, big time.

Disclaimer: Names of places or characters used in this story are completely fictional, any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events and places is purely coincidental. Threads of Fate/Dewprism belongs to it's creators at Square Enix (Squenix), formerly known as SquareSoft.

Teaser: "Ya owe me huh?" Mint murmured to herself. She could barely remember his name now but she rather liked the thought of having such control over someone else.

"I like the sound of that…"

Title: Threads of Fate

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Prologue

Waking from the Aftermath

Princess Mint of East Heaven Kingdom definitely got up on the wrong side of the bed today. She had just woken from one of the most lucid dreams she had ever since her tenth birthday. She knew it was a dream because she lived her entire life spoiled and pampered in the castle. There never was a trip to a small town called Carona and she most certainly did not know any boy named Rue.

No, wait.

She did. The fog hanging over her memory, the dream, began to lift and she can see him clearly, "Rue".

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For three days he had been asleep after the destruction of Valen's fortress. Ms. Cartha had told the princess that he'd woken up just a little earlier than she did and gone out. Immediately the redhead threw the inn's doors open and ran to follow him. How dare he awaken without her knowing?!

The Princess stepped out into the stone cobbled town square, just in time to see the doll leave Klaus' shop on his way to – wherever he was headed.

"Rue!" The boy paused and turned to see who called him.

Mint broke into a run and skidded to stop just a few steps short of crashing into the boy. Shaking a fist at the expectant youth she asked, "Finally got up huh?"

"You've been sleeping for so long, I thought you were gonna die in bed." She finished with a shrug.

"Thanks for worrying about me."

As if suddenly remembering the importance of personal space, the princess took a few steps back before turning to face Rue once again. "What are you talking about?" she said, barely covering the blush on her cheeks.

"I wasn't worried about you. W-why would I be?" She hurried to finish with a dismissive wave of her hands. The princess always had trouble expressing herself in awkward situations and this time was no exemption.

The girl did not miss the slight look of hurt Rue gave her before turning his gaze to the ground. Perhaps she had gone too far? After all they'd been through, it was very plain to see that they have developed at least a semblance of a relationship. Just what sort, it was hard to tell, but it certainly was an improvement from the one sided trust the pair had to begin with. Was it merely companionship? A bond of friendship perhaps?

Mint should've known better.

The undeniable truth was that she had cared a lot more than she allowed Rue to see. Purposely averting her attention to the burbling fountain at the center of the town square, the ex-royal flipped her hair over her shoulder. It was a nervous habit she had picked up over the two years of her self imposed exile from the kingdom.

"Well, I guess this is it," she began again. "I'm leaving."

Rue unconsciously took a step toward her in surprise. She could tell by the look on his face that he knew it was coming but hated to say goodbye. And he truly couldn't, especially not to someone as unforgettable as the princess.

He did not expect her to leave so soon after the mess with Valen, his creator. In fact, he was clueless on what to do next himself.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Her cheeks still mildly flushed, the girl turned her crimson gaze to level with his own. A small smile graced Mint's lips as she shared her plans after the mad rush for the Dewprism. "I'm going back home," She told him. "Maya's going back, so I might as well too."

"I haven't been back for two years. My ship's leaving in a few minutes." The girl flipped her hair over her shoulder again and closed her eyes as if in deep thought.

She then spun on her heel and paced back towards the inn, still addressing her words to Rue. Her absolute lack of common courtesy, since people normally would face the person they were talking to, had grown on the boy. Somewhere along the way, in between chasing after the relic and keeping Mint out of trouble, the boy had grown accustomed to the princess' personality flaws.

Dare he say it? They've even begun to seem cute to him.

The redhead was a free spirit, he understood that. She always had to be in motion whether she was walking up and down the stairs of Klaus's basement divulging the information she had come across, or dancing in glee upon a new discovery. Even just standing idle, Mint was never completely still. The girl did not seem aware of her habit of bouncing her foot or tapping her weapon against the side of her adventure boot.

"…after I kick back and relax for a while, I'm gonna go [relic] hunting again." she stopped to face the patch of sky visible over Carona's gates. Her hair fluttered in the soft breeze as she continued her monologue.

"I'm gonna find a [relic] that is far more powerful than the Dewprism." She stated with absolute conviction.

A few seconds of silence passed – the calm before the storm and then…

"THEN THE WORLD WILL BE MINE! AHAHAHAHA!"

She pumped her fist into the air to accompany her raised voice, threw her head back and let loose a loud string of laughter, hands upon her hips and shoulders shaking with barely contained megalomania.

Rue could do little more than stand and watch in astonishment as the girl lost herself in her short moment of tyrannical fantasies. Did she not know the meaning of giving up? Perhaps not. Mint never truly lost, anyone who claimed to know her, knew better than to ever think so.

As if hearing his thoughts, the girl swung around and called to him a second time that day. "Rue!"

"Yeah?" the boy dreaded to answer.

The princess ran over to the frozen boy and pinned him under one of her patented fierce glares. "You'd better help me on my next [relic] hunt, ok?" her words came out as more of an order than a request.

"What?" the boy jumped back in surprise. Mint needed to be constantly reminded about the concept of personal space it seemed.

"Why?"

"Because you owe me," the greedy redhead wasn't going to let him get away too easily. "You got Claire back with the Dewprism, and I got nothing." She emphasized the word "nothing", approaching him non-too different from the way a saber tooth stalked its prey.

The girl began stomping the stone floor just a few inches shy of the doll's mismatched boots, yet another one of her 'cute' habits. All embarrassment forgotten, Mint leaned in a little further, drawing her visage ever closer to Rue who had panic written all over his face.

"It's not fair! I worked just as hard, and you got all the reward!" she complained. "So next time, you gotta help me make my wish come true."

Mint smirked at the small frown on the boy's confused features. She could see the slight blush dusting her victim's sun dappled skin. The shadows cast by his ridiculous hat did little to obscure the uncertainty in those dark, almost sable, eyes.

"I don't know…" Rue took a few cautious steps backwards in case Mint suddenly attacked. She was completely unpredictable when angry.

Finally realizing his discomfort, the princess slowly began to make her way towards the ship docks. Her threatening gaze refused to leave him alone until she had her last say in the matter.

"If I find anything about any [relic], I'll contact you." She said before waving goodbye and breaking into a run, "Ok, see ya!"

And with that she was gone. She never once stopped to listen to his reply nor had she even given him the opportunity to refuse. Not that she would let him anyway.

The words still rung in her head even as she begrudgingly rolled out of her loving bed - away from her soft sheets and pillows made with expensive Ephlesian cotton. Moonlight spilled into the room through the half shut windows framed with shards of crystal and dreamstones. Outside, the stars peeked from behind the shadows of the castle's distant towers.

The newly awakened royal turned her bleary eyes to the night sky and listened to the symphony of the crickets and frogs coming from the gardens below. It was rare that she dreamed at all and yet these recurring dreams have been haunting her every moment of slumber – memories that seemed to call from a time not too long ago.

And that boy…

"Ya owe me huh?" Mint murmured to herself. She could barely remember his name now but she rather liked the thought of having such control over someone else.

"I like the sound of that…"

Indeed. Perhaps, it was even that thought that birthed the greatest decision Mint ever made in her entire life as the spoiled terror of East Heaven Kingdom.

It was a decision that was about to change her life and the lives of the friendly inhabitants of a little town called Carona.

And far into the depths of the cosmos came loose a single thread, unraveling the very fabric of time and space on the golden loom of destiny – the first of many tangles to come in the threads of fate.

Thus began, Mint's story.

Again.

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